Storage battery.



Patented fan. I, l90 l.

A. G. ENEAS. STORAGE BATTERY. (Application filad' Oct. 9, 1597. RenewedJune 13, 1900.

2' Sheets-Sheer I.

(No Model.)

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No. 665,l95. T

A. G. ENEAS. STORAGE BATTERY.

(Application filed Oct. 9, 1897. ihnewed June 13, 1900.)

(No Modl.) 2 Sheets-Sheet z.

iiiiiiiiii i" Patentedj-lahi1l, I90! THE ucnms PEYERS 00.. PHOTO-Lima.WASHINGTON. n. c.

' UNrTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUBREY G. ENEAS, OF BOSTON,MASSAOHUSETTS.

STO RAG E BATTERY.

SPECIFISATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 665,195, dated January1 1901. Application filed October 9, 18 97. Renewed June 13, 1900. Srial No. 20,218- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUBREY G. ENEAS, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, anda resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improve-' ment in Storage Batteries, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like. letters on the drawingsrepresentinglike parts. 7

My invention is an improvement in storage batteries or electricalaccumulators, my invention relating particularly to the form of grid andthe materials of which it is made, with a view to reducing theweight ofthe battery, cheapening its cost'of production or manufacture, andincreasing its capacity for charge and discharge without injury to thebattery. Batteries of this class are usually made by impressing in aperforated or grooved grid suitable active material, such as peroxid oflead or other active material, and the problem whichI have attempted tosolve is to reduce the weight of the cells and at the same time increasethe extent of surface or area of the oxid coming in contact with theacid or other electrolyte in which the plates are immersed. The usualcommercial requirements demand a high rate of discharge, and accordinglythe grids have been primarily formed with a view to exposing at thesurface thereof as large an area of the active material as possible, itbeing understood that the rate of charge and discharge varies as thearea of oxid in contact with the electrolyte; but when the battery isdrawn largely upon, as is the case in traction-work, for example, itcauses the oxid to swell or buckle by reason of the large number ofamperes required, and the oxid tends thereby to fall out of the groovesor from between the partitions of the grid, which normally serve toretain it, so that the grid necessarily has had to be made of a sizewhich has materially limited the extent of exposed surface of the activematerial. In the embodiment of my .struction.

' apart along the rod, between which the active material is held, saidactive material being preferably concentric with the rod. By the termpermeable I do not mean to include a plate having holes or perforations,as in United States Patent No. 462,449, but I mean capable of allowingthe passage of the electrolyte through and into the substance itself andwithout the displacement of any portion of said substance. Thewasher-like partitions allow the acid to permeate them, and therebyenormously increase the area of the active material practicallyin directaccess to the acid. The form of the grid conduces to strength, andthereby enables me to make it much lighter than would otherwise bepossible,for the reason that all tendency of the oxid to cause the plateto buckle or bend under the swelling thereof is self-counteracted,because inasmuch as there is p recisely the same amountof activematerial on one side of the core as on any and all other sides thereofany radial movement'of the material on one side meets an opposite andprecisely similar movement on the opposite side.

Various other features of my invention and the details of constructionthereof will be a pointed out in the following description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, illustrative of a preferredembodiment of my invention, and the latter will be more particularlydefined in the claims.

Figure 1v is an enlarged front elevation of an electrode built upaccording to my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are central vertical sec-vtions thereof, broken away to show different forms of cores, the latterfigure also showing one means of interlocking the active material. Fig.4 is a central vertical section taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 5, showing amodified form of the electrode. Fig. 5 is a transverse section, thereof,taken on the line 5 5, Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the battery embodying my invention. Fig. 7is a longitudinal section thereof. broken detail, partly in section'andpartly in elevation, showing further details of con- Fig. '9 is aperspective View of a portion of the bottom of the cell,'showing thefoot steps or bearings. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view in section,showing one means of securing the core in place.

F1g. 8 IS an enlarged In carrying out my invention I provide a core inthe form of a rod a, tube a, or plate 03, of some conductingmaterialsuch as lead, for example-and on this core I arrange a number ofwashers, plates, or partitions b, of some permeable material-such asbrick, unglazed porcelain, carbon, or similar rigid compounds,non-conductive or conductivethat will permit the acid orexciting-electrolyte to permeate it. Preferably between thepartitions 1) I interpose separators c, which serve to space apart thewasher-like partitions h, the separators and partitions being movable onthe core and together therewith constituting a grid or support for theactive material (Z, which may be the usual OXld, or spongy lead, or anyother suitable substance preferred to constitute, together with thesupport,the positive or negative electrodes for the battery. At one orboth ends of the electrode I interpose a yielding medium (herein shownas a rubber or spring disk 6) which permits the body of the electrode toexpand and contract, as may be necessary in use, and yet maintains theparts from the possibility of disruption, the whole being held togetherby a clampingnut f at one end of the core and a supportingshoulder f ornut f at the opposite end, or instead thereof the end of the core may bebored out, as shown at f Fig. 10, to receive a small pin f driven intothe end of the rod, which swages or expands the lead or metal intocontact with the adjacent parts. The separators and washers are put ontothe rod alternately, so as to leave spaces for the active material. Theseparators when used are also of conducting material and serve both tospace apart the partitions and also as conductors for the activematerial d to the core, the latter also, as before stated, being both asupport and a conductor. The washers or partitions Z) serve as a grid orframe for the oxid and at the same time, being permeable and not actedupon by the acid, allow the acid or electrolyte access to the sides ofthe oxid contained between them, so that the area of the oxid exposed onthe rod is not only the circumferential area of the oxid which may bevisible to an observer, but includes also the top and bottom sides orfaces of the annuli (Z. The efficiency of the electrode is greatlyincreased by reason of this construction, and, moreover, the cost ofconstruction is very much reduced, inasmuch as it is an easy and simplematter to string the washers on the rods, as stated, and then fill inwith the active material, the rigid partitions main taining the propershape of the grid for the operation of pressing in the red lead; also,instead of the usual lead partitions or ribs, as heretofore provided,the much lighter porcelain or permeable clay or carbon partitions areused, and therebya lighter battery is obtained bulk for bulk.

The number of electrodes used in a battery may vary according to therequirements of the work. I prefer to arrange the electrodes as shown inFig. 6, where it will be observed that a large number of electrodes arecontained in a usual glass or rubber jarg for the electrolyte g,alternate electrodes being connected in parallel or multiple by leads 717t across the jar, alternate lines thereof having their leads secured toconductors of opposite polarity at the opposite sides of the jar, asindicated at 7L2 7L3, the latter leads being arranged as indicated at hrin order to permit an adjacent lead to pass thereunder, as clearly shownin Figs. 6 and 7. This arrangement is the most economical for occupyingthe space within the jar. A further economy of space is attained bymaking the form of the electrodes hexagonahas shown in Fig. 6,whichgives the characteristic of affording the great est area for a givenspace and yet providing the necessary spaces between the electrodes forthe free circulation of the electrolyte. The positive and negativeelectrodes are herein shown as identical in form, and it will beunderstood that they are spaced alternately, as will be evident from theconnections clearly shown in Fig. 6, so that the greatest efficiency canbe obtained.

A further feature of my invention resides in providing glass, rubber, orother non-corrodible foot steps or bearings It at the bottom of the cellin order to maintain the electrodes properly positioned and separated inthe cell. These foot-steps may be formed integrally or otherwise securedto the bottom of the jar. Ea'ch electrode has its core extended at thelower end or is otherwise provided with a projection to enter orinterlock with a recess provided centrally in the bearing 70, the latterhaving, preferably, a conical form, as shown, and being less incircumference at its upper end than the adjacent portion of theelectrode, the object of this provision being to make it absolutelyimpossible that any of the active material of the electrodes which maybecome disintegrated from the body of the electrode should catch orlodge at the lower end of the electrode, and thereby, perhaps,short-circuit the battery by forming a connection with an adjacent electrode. Byhaving the foot steps or bearin gs 70 formed, as shown, in shape ofpillars whatever matter becomes disintegrated from the electrodes willnecessarily fall down to the bottom of the jar entirely out of range ofthe electrodes, and as the latter are held up from the bottom by thebearings 7a a considerable quantity of active material may accumulate inthe bottom of the jar before occasioning any danger of short-circuitingthe electrodes.

With reference to the feature of my invention which resides in stringingthe washers or partitions on a rod or other core to form a grid it willbe understood that the washers and electrodes may be of any convenientshape, and that also in regard to having the partitions permeable theshape may be considerably varied, inasmuch as the object of this featureis to increase the effective area .ers or partitions b may be recessedperipherally, as shown at b, Fig. 3, in order to give freer access ofthe electrolyte to the active material d.

In order to minimize the tendency of the active material to crumble andfall out under the expansion and contraction thereof, I prefer to formconcentric annular grooves in the adjacent faces of the partitions, asindicated 7 at b Fig. 3.

In operation the acid or other electrolyte acts not only upon theexposed peripheral surfaces of the oxid of lead or spongy lead or othersubstance used as active material, but it is freely admitted by thepermeable clay or other separator 19 to the sides or faces of the activematerial, thereby greatly increasing the efficiency and power of theelectrode. The current is transmitted along the leads h h 72 k and theconductors a (or a a and 0, provided the latter are used. When thebattery is brought into active service, the expansion of the activematerial (1 cannot bend or distort the electrode, because it operatesequally on all sides thereof, and its longitudinal movement is taken upby the yielding disks e at the ends of the electrode, thecorrugations 1) serving also to prevent disruption of the activematerial. If, however, any of the latter should dislodge and fall, it isprevented from short-circuiting the battery by reason of the conicalfoot-steps k, which support the electrode away from the bottom of thejar and give ample room for the accumulation of considerable material inthe bottom of the jar before endangering the efficiency of the battery.

I regard my invention as new in providing a conducting-support, eitherplate or rod, surrounded by a plurality of independent rigid partitionsof permeable material,so as to form agrid or frame, between which isprovided the active material or composition of the accumulator. Thefeature is also new of having the electrodes uniformly and permanently,

spaced apart by the foot-steps, separated and in conical form, so as toshed the debris and keep it out of any possible short-circuiting contactwith the electrodes. All the above points I intend to cover broadly inthis patent.

While I have herein described in detail certain embodiments of myinvention, I wish it understood that I am in no wise restricted to thesedetails, inasmuch as a wide range of changes in form, construction, andrelation of parts is within the contemplation of my invention, and I donot limit the latter otherwise than as expressed in the claims taken inconnection with this specification.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

11 In a storage battery, an electrode com-- prising a conducting-core, aplurality of independent, rigid, permeable partitions movable thereon,and active material interposed between the said independent partitions,substantially as described.

2. In a storage battery, an electrode comprising a conducting-core, aplurality of independent, rigid, permeable, non -metallic partitionsmovable thereon, and active material interposed between said partitions,substantially as described.

3. In a storage battery, an electrode comprising a conducting-core, aplurality of independent non-metallic partitions movable thereon,separators on said core between said partitions, and active materialinterposed between the parti tions,inclosi n g said separators, andfilling the spaces between the said partitions, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a storage battery an electrode comprising a core, a plurality ofindependent permeable partitions movable thereon,and active materialinterposed between said partitions, said partitions having annulargrooves formed concentrically in their faces adjacent the activematerial, substantially as described.

5. In a storage battery, an electrode comprising a conducting-supporthaving a plurality of permeable partitions mounted thereon, and activematerials interposed and filling the entire spaces between andimmediately adjacent on both sides of said permeable partitions wherebythe electrolyte has free action on the peripheral surface of saidmaterial,and also through the permeable partitions on the adjacent sidesor faces of the said material, substantially as described.

6. In. a storage battery, the combination with a suitableconducting-support, of a plurality of independent, rigid, permeablepieces movably mounted thereon, and active mate- -rial filling thespaces between and retained by said permeable pieces, substantially asdescribed.-

7. In a storage battery, the combination with a suitableconducting-support, of a plurality of independent, rigid, permeable,nonmetallic pieces movably mounted thereon, and active materialinterposed between and retained by said permeable pieces, substantiallyas described.

8. In a storage battery, the combination with a suitableconducting-support, of a plurality of independent pieces of permeablematerial, and active material interposed between and retained by saidpermeable pieces, said pieces having peripheral recesses in theirexposed edges for permitting the electrolyte to more readily penetratethem, substantially as described.

9. In a storage battery, the combination with a plurality of electrodes,of conical footsteps, one for each electrode between the electrode and abase, and arranged to separate and uniformly space said electrodesapart, said foot-steps being smaller at their upper ends than theadjacent ends of the electrodes, whereby they oifer firm supports forthe electrodes and cause all falling debris to fall away from theelectrodes, substantially as described.

10. In a storage battery, the combination with a plurality ofelectrodes, of independent foot-steps, one for each electrode betweenthe electrode and a base, and arranged to separate and uniformly spacesaid electrodes apart, said foot-steps being in the form of pillarsshaped at their upper ends to interlock with the bottom ends of theelectrodes and being smaller at their upper ends than the adjacent lowerends of the electrodes, whereby they ofier firm supports for theelectrodes and cause all falling debris to fall away from theelectrodes, substantially as described.

11. In a storage battery, an electrode comprising a centralconducting-core, a plurality of independent, rigid, permeablenon-inetallic partitions, indestructible by the electrolyte, saidpartitions being strung on said core and freely movable longitudinallythereof, active material between and adjacent said partitions, and oneor more yielding compression members carried on said core permitting thefree longitudinal expansion and contraction of the active material ofthe electrode, substantially as described.

12. In a storage battery, a conducting-core, a plurality of independent,rigid, non-metallic partitions, indestructible by the electrolyte orelectric current of the battery, said partitions being spaced apart onsaid core, and active material filling the spaces between saidpartitions, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

AUBREY Gr. ENEAS. Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, JOHN G. EDWARDS.

